1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flow meter for determining a flow of a medium, said flow meter comprising a flow tube for transporting the medium whose flow is to be measured, wherein the flow tube has a first end and a second end at a distance therefrom, and wherein the flow meter is provided with a first flow sensor for measuring the flow of the medium at a first position of the flow tube. The present invention also relates to the use of such a flow meter.
The invention further relates to a method for determining a flow of a medium.
Such a flow meter is known, for example from EP 2078936. The known flow meter is provided with a system chip and comprises a substrate provided with an opening, in which opening a silicon nitride flow tube is present for transporting medium whose flow is to be measured. The flow tube described in EP 2068936 forms part of a Coriolis flow sensor and is suitable for measuring very low mass flows, to values far below 1 gram per hour. In another embodiment, the flow tube forms part of a so-called thermal flow sensor.
The known flow meter and the known method are limited as regards their accuracy and/or measurable range. Although the known flow meter is quite satisfactory, there is a need for a flow meter and a method by means of which the flow, for example the mass flow, can be determined more accurately and/or within a larger measuring range.
2. Description of the Related Art
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved flow meter and an improved method for determining the flow, preferably the mass flow. Additionally it is an object to provide a flow meter at the method by means of which flows, preferably very low flows, such as mass flows of much less than 1 g/h, can be measured with a relatively high degree of accuracy. In addition to that it is an additional object of the present invention to provide a flow meter and a method by means of which a very large range of flows, in particular mass flows, can be measured.